Hey,I was wondering how hard it would be to drill new holes into the underside of the forward cross bar on the stern side of the dolphin striker bar in a hobie 16. I need to drill 4 hole for riveting a connector handle for a righting system I'm designing. IS it possible to drill those holes with a normal drill and metal bit? without damaging the structural integrity? Thanks in advance.

You can easily add holes to your crossbar using an electric hand drill and a standard general purpose high-speed steel bit (as long as it's reasonably sharp). As to whether or not it will cause a structural issue with the crossbar, that depends on the size, location, and number of holes. The more holes you add to the crossbar, the weaker it becomes.

Again, it depends on exactly where you're putting the holes and how close they are to each other. In most cases it's not a problem, and there are a bunch of holes already in the crossbar for mounting fittings, jib tracks, mast step. If you put the holes too close together, they are more likely to crack through. I'd also keep holes away from the center of the crossbar since there is already a big hole there for the dolphin striker post and the holes for the mast step.

I don't think it would hurt anything. If you could get by with only two holes it would be better. I put holes all over my front x-bar with the self tacker and all the spin hardware and after 4 seasons it shows no additional wear. I did replace the two rivet mast step with a four this year after the two pulled out.